Kia ora koutou,
Ko Malcolm tōku ingoa.
He uri ahau nō Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu me te whakapapa Pākehā nō Koterana.
I began my working life in the New Zealand Army, followed by mahi in sales and building. My personal journey has taken me through addiction, homelessness, child uplift, and imprisonment. These experiences, while challenging, have shaped who I am and led me toward a new purpose.
As I moved through my own hauora journey, I found a deep sense of meaning in the Lived experience sector. I started as a volunteer at a Kaupapa Māori NGO, and over five years I transitioned through a number of roles — from peer support worker to team lead, then clinician and programme lead.
Originally raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, I now live in Tauranga Moana with my partner and our four tamariki. I love spending time with my whānau, and enjoy hī ika (fishing), whakairo (carving), and kapa haka with Te Taha Tū.
I created Te Ara ō Tāwhaki — a kaupapa to uplift and support the lived experience and peer addiction sector. I'm passionate about developing a strong, well-resourced peer workforce, grounded in lived experience and cultural connection, to awhi our people on their own journeys of healing, hope, and transformation.
How did we get here
Through my own journey of hauora and healing, I began to reconnect deeply with Te Ao Māori — a part of myself that had been quiet for many years. That reconnection helped me make sense of where I’d been, and where I wanted to go. It gave me language, tikanga, and a sense of belonging that I hadn’t always felt growing up.
As I moved into peer support and clinical roles, I started to see clear gaps in the training and development space — especially for our Māori peers and those with lived experience of addiction and mental distress. Many of the mainstream models we were being trained in didn’t reflect our values, our wairua, or the lived realities of our people.
At the same time, I could see that Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pākehā each hold valuable tools and ways of understanding wellbeing — but they’re often kept separate. As someone who walks in both worlds, I felt called to help bridge that space.
That’s where my work through Te Ara ō Tāwhaki really began to evolve — creating a space where we can bring both worldviews together in a way that feels balanced, real, and respectful. One of the ways I’ve done this is through pū rākau — using storytelling and symbol to help people explore their own journeys, values, and growth.
This approach has become a powerful tool in the delivery of training and reflective practice, especially for peer workers. It allows us to ground ourselves in mātauranga Māori, while also engaging with Western models in a way that doesn’t override our identity, but complements it.
Ultimately, my goal is to grow a workforce of confident, culturally strong, and well-equipped peers — people who can tautoko our whānau not just with theory, but with lived wisdom, integrity, and aroha.
Our kaupapa in action
Tāwhaki’s journey was never just about reaching the heavens — it was about what he learned on the way up. He faced challenges, temptations, distractions, and doubts. He didn’t come back with the original kete mātauranga — but he returned with something even more powerful: lived experience, humility, and a deeper understanding of himself and the world.
In many ways, that’s the heart of Te Ara ō Tāwhaki.
Like Tāwhaki, many of us have had to climb our own vines — through addiction, incarceration, disconnection, trauma. We’ve slipped. We’ve called out: “Āwhina mai!” And like Tāwhaki, we’ve found unexpected teachers along the way — kaumātua, whānau, peers, and the lessons hidden inside our own pain.
Every challenge has offered something:
🔥 The fire of transformation — turning struggle into strength
🌊 The rhythm of reflection — understanding the cycles of healing
🎶 The power of reconnection — finding joy through identity, creativity, and kaupapa
Te Ara ō Tāwhaki is a space where those learnings are valued. Where lived experience becomes leadership. Where healing is not linear — it’s a climb, sometimes steep, but always full of meaning.
This mahi isn’t about perfection — it’s about reflection.
It’s about helping others climb in their own way, at their own pace, knowing they are never climbing alone..